Fire-hose Baptism

February 7, 2015

Hello everyone!!

I know i´m a little late, but that's too bad that the hawks lost.. I got a phone call last Sunday night from a member telling me that the Seahawks blew it. That´s all right though!

Today we moved! Our new house is a lot bigger, nicer, and its not pink like our last house :) haha. It was a lot of work cleaning the new house and moving everything but a member helped us and we have everything inside the house now and just need to clean the old one! It was kind of a tough day because while we in the new house, we left the washing machine running in the old house and the washing machines aren't really the same here and to make a long story short, when we got back to the old house it was flooded!! Thats alright though, we are going to go figure that our here in a little bit.
This week was pretty normal.. It was the calm before the storm I think because next week we will be traveling with the President to each of the zones in Michoacán for special trainings. There are 5 zones in Michoacan so Monday through Friday we will be over there helping with the trainings and working with the zone leaders in the afternoons.

Our investigators are great here. We have a family of four. Rosa is the mom, Monserat is the daughter who is 17, Luis is the son who is 13, and Paco is the youngest son who is 5. Rosa Monserat, and Luis are preparing to be baptized the 21st of this month. They go to all the church activities and Rosa read half the Book of Mormon in the past two weeks!

Elder Raya called me last weekend and told me Pedro got baptized!! It turns out my idea of leaving the water in the font wasn't such a bad one! there was no water in the church when they went to fill the font. Elder Raya said they didn't know what to do so they prayed and then walked outside and waved down a fire truck. They asked the firemen if they wouldn't mind filling up the font and they agreed! so they ran the hose through the church and filled up the baptismal font! Wish I could have been there to see it!

Well, my loved ones, I sure do love you. Hope you all have a great week!

Love Elder Del Toro

Seed Planting

January 31, 2015

Hello friends and family!! how is everyone doing??

This week was a great one. It started off last weekend with a baptism! Karen and Moises were baptized last weekend by their older brother and dad who were baptized 11 years ago but just recently returned to the church. Able (the older brother) is 25 years old and is working on his mission papers right now. He received his patriachal blessing this week and loves to come work with us. We are away from our area a lot but when we do work here in our area we see miracles happening all the time. I cant say I did much for Karen and Moises, they were already taught and ready for baptism, but what I did love hearing is that in my last area, Alicia was baptized last weekend, her husband Pedro is being baptized today, and Josefina is being baptized next weekend. I talked to Elder Raya and he said they decided not to leave the same water there for 3 weeks haha.

I have learned how important it is to plant seeds. These past few months have been so rewarding to hear how the people I have taught earlier in my mission have progressed. I received an email a few months ago from the Arredondo family saying that Paty is the relief society President and that her brother in law´s family of 5 were baptized. I also heard that Ramon is doing great in the church and is preparing to go to the temple. I heard that Brother Cruz is the young men´s president in his ward. And one of the biggest miracles I have seen is that a couple from the first ward I served in are now serving full time missions in this mission as secretaries. This couple was so stubborn!! I had to remind the husband the other day of when we visited them in their home and invited them to share the gospel with their friends. That day he said he would not do it and when we invited him to pray for the strength to do it he also refused. He and his wife now wear little black name tags that say "Elder Guillen" and "Hermana Guillen". Elder Guillen says that Elder Gonzalez and I are the reason he knew he needed to share the gospel and he repented and sent in his mission papers. We are in the mission offices at least once a week and I always have to give him a hard time about that. This gospel is amazing. It truly changes the lives of so many and has definitely changed mine. This is the most rewarding thing I have ever done. Seeing what the seeds we plant turn into makes me want to continue working hard every day because we never know what those people can become in the future.

Thank you all for the love and support.

Love,

Elder Del Toro

Back to Guadalajara

January 24, 2015

Hello loved ones,

Well, lots has changed since the last time I wrote!! New area, new companion, new assignment, and a new preparation day!! Lots of new things but Im loving it.

I have been assigned to be the assistant to the President. I started with my new assignment last sunday so this week has been lots of learning and keeping busy. I like my new assignment so far! I know I will learn a lot and it will be sweet to work with the President and with a lot of missionaries. I will be the assistant to President Camarillo until July 1st when he ends his mission and then my next companion and I will be the assistants to President Egginton who also starts on July 1st. We will train him for 3 months and then I think it will be my turn to come home. My companion right now is Elder Balbuena. He is from Puebla, Mexico. He lives in the mission where Ethan will serve! He is a great missionary. We will serve together for the next three months. Our ward is called Bugambilias. Its in Guadalajara and its also the promised land, just like Lazaro Cardenas.

This past weekend I had an awesome experience. On sunday Elder Balbuena and I had the opportunity to go the the fireside of the missionaries who finished their mission this transfer. It was their last day here in the mission and it was a testimony meeting. Their clothes were a little tattered, their shoes worn down, and a little bit of a scared look on their face to go back home. But they truly looked like representatives of Jesus Christ who had done His work for the past two years. It was one of the most powerful meetings I have been in. The spirit was so strong as we listened to their testimonies that they had gained during 2 years or a year and a half for the sisters.
The next day we went to the airport to receive the new missionaries arriving from the MTC. Their shirts were very white, their suites new and fresh, and a little bit of a scared look on their face. But they also truly looked like representatives of Jesus Christ ready to do His work for he next two years.
I love this work. I cant imagine myself doing anything else at this time. I know that this is Christ`s church and I know that this is His work. I try every day to make our Savior proud and I thank Him every day for the sacrifice that he has given to each and every one of us.

Love you all!! An I hope you have a great week. My new preparation day is on saturdays so that is when you will be receiving my emails now.

Love,


Elder Del Toro

The last photos in Lazaro!